USA Anafi stuck in CE mode - should be in FCC

BRC · Feb 25, 2020

Hi Guys

I did something that caused the drone to change from FCC mode to CE mode - I am in the USA
Probably cause the issue by hard reset of drone by holding battery button down for 15 second
I use a controller with IOS phone. Since I have two anafi's, phones, controllers, etc -
I was able to troubleshoot it to the drone
Again I tried to reset all devices but no help stays in CE mode
Any ideas

Ana789 · Feb 25, 2020

What fw is the drone/RC/ running, app version?

Did you update all to the latest before that happened?

And: ARE you in the US, or is "just" your phone "in the US"?

BRC · Feb 25, 2020

I am in the US and have had this drone for 6 months in FCC mode
Was fully updated prior to this happening
Drone is 1.6.4
Controller 1.6.3
FF6 6.6.5

Ana789 · Feb 26, 2020

Oh, being in the US, the drone should be in FCC now, too!

Perhaps it is another unwanted effect of the latest fw?
It shouldn't affect you, but the fw seems to be set up (by EU regulations?), not to be able to switch to FCC, if NOT in a FCC country.
Could be, that is a bit more difficult as Parrot thought?

I am just guessing here, but the 1.6.4 seems to have surprises in it!
One could be that it thinks, it is a Anafi outside an FCC country!

I'd contact Parrot.
You having 2 Anafis can help to communicate the issue!

BRC · Feb 26, 2020

Thank you, funny thing is i thought i had it fixed last night, but it was late so I may have been mistaken
best
Brian

d95gas · Feb 26, 2020

Yep the culprit here is the 1.64 firmware. I have tried everything I can to get around it and nothing works.

Got onto Parrot, and their response is:

"Make sure phone location is USA"

I have told them a dozen times that does not work, the phone stays in CE Mode.

The more people logging this issue with Parrot the better, there is definitely some serious bugs in 1.64 that they need to sort out pronto.

Wolfox · Feb 26, 2020

Have you done the hard reset together with formatting completely the SD card with a external device(freshSdcard)?

BRC · Feb 26, 2020

Gave it a try this morning after you suggesting reformatting of SD card it, but did not work
I know its not the phone or phone settings as i have a few and they work fine on my 2nd Anafi
If i am in FF6 and have network settings open when I power on bird I can see a quick glimpse of FCC channels loading, then they disappear and I think goes into CE mode
They're being blocked for some reason - and wifi distance is terrible - like a couple hundred feet vs 1500 in FCC mode
I'll open a ticket with Parrot as I assume there is no way to rollback the firmware
btw... the issue was not created by FW update as i did that some time ago on it's release date
The problem started after I mistakenly did a hard reset this past weekend -
Thanks for the suggestions

Wolfox · Feb 26, 2020

Ok, because I saw that the Anafi was creating several files in the SD card, I thought it might be retaining some weird data.
Hope something moves with your ticket.
UPDATE:
I couldn't test because we are still having strong wind here, but I saw what you mean about the channels appearing while the Anafi is booting up, just a fraction of a second and gone.
So I tried on the last version of FF6, on the Playstore, and did all the same procedures. The channels stay visible a bit more and disappear, I then tried again and then I pressed fast a channel, I got Channel 40 and it says it's a 5.8ghz channel(YOU HAVE TO BE IN MANUAL) the other channels disappeared but the selected one remained. I could only test by moving the gimbal and it was working, but then I could not jump out of it, it was always in channel 40, I could only swap Manual Auto. I put it in Auto, switched off the drone, changed page on the tablet and back to Network (there should be no channels), switch ON the drone and it was on a 2.4ghz channel with gimbal working.
So at this point also who has a old version of FF6, try pressing the channel before it disappears.

BRC · Mar 7, 2020

I did open a ticket with Parrot on 2/27, but have not received any support *** today. I did update with the recent FW release but it did not resolve the issue still in CE mode
Did anyone else in usa find a solution

catkinson80 · Mar 7, 2020

Just a quick question relating to fcc mode what I am looking for to double check I've managed to put it in fcc mode but I'm not sure what channels I'm looking for. I did a similar mod on my spark and this seems similar but also has differences.

Thanks

catkinson80 · Mar 7, 2020

Screenshot_2020-03-07-21-55-23-54_0de363ac074cc510c5ae3cb3fd0ff787.png

This is what it is showing, just wondered which channels etc I am looking for to establish whether I am in fcc mode.

charleslee · Mar 7, 2020

catkinson80 said:
View attachment 3576

This is what it is showing, just wondered which channels etc I am looking for to establish whether I am in fcc mode.

Am in the same boat , exacly the same problem , i think FCC channel or 36 to 44 , my range got very short .. Parrot sucks

BRC · Mar 7, 2020

I believe you should also be seeing channel as attached for fcc, one of my anafi's is ok and the other is in CE mode
yes range is worse than terrible on CE

Gipsz Jakab · Mar 7, 2020

BRC said:
I did open a ticket with Parrot on 2/27, but have not received any support *** today. I did update with the recent FW release but it did not resolve the issue still in CE mode
Did anyone else in usa find a solution

Unfortunately, the 1.6.4 firmware has closed the FCC for some people. As we tried to find out on the forum here, I think those who have updated to have the FF6_FCC mod on their phone (and) or fake GPS on their phone have been updated to avoid losing the FCC. They will remain in the FCC even after upgrading to 1.6.5 FW. Whose 1.6.4 has fixed the CE mode, they have the 1.6.5. FW didn't fix it either.
As firmware downgrading is currently not possible, only Parrot can repair (replace) it.

charleslee · Mar 7, 2020

we reside in USA , CANADA , WTF...

catkinson80 · Mar 7, 2020

Yes it looks like I messed up by initially updating the app as this forced the update to anafi, controller and batteries.
I wonder whether parrot are trying to enforce countries power limits.

d95gas · Mar 8, 2020

So by way of an update to say Parrot have definitely done something that has caused our Anafi's to be locked to FR (France).

I am currently working with another developer who is working on additional application for Parrot. Part of his application allows you to go in and select various countries:

GB
DE
GR
NZ

and the list goes on. Now I can see from the application that the Anafi is currently showing it is in FR (its not), so I select GB, immediately I apply that setting, it automatically goes back to FR.

So there is something if you can imagine, that makes the drone think its hardwired to FR. I believe thats the issue we are all having, well those locked to CE.

For some bizarre reason, the drone has got itself confused, whether its from an instruction in 1.64 or not, and hard wired us to FR region.

Next step is to do some logging and try and discover how and why they are doing this, as its definitely wrong.

charleslee · Mar 8, 2020

If your in America and the drone thinks it in europe , you can expect it to crash or drop, fly away ... very nice

crossroad · Mar 8, 2020

Gipsz Jakab said:
Unfortunately, the 1.6.4 firmware has closed the FCC for some people. As we tried to find out on the forum here, I think those who have updated to have the FF6_FCC mod on their phone (and) or fake GPS on their phone have been updated to avoid losing the FCC. They will remain in the FCC even after upgrading to 1.6.5 FW. Whose 1.6.4 has fixed the CE mode, they have the 1.6.5. FW didn't fix it either.
As firmware downgrading is currently not possible, only Parrot can repair (replace) it.

what is the right process?
First make an update using FF6_6.6.2.203_FCC and go to 1.6.4 hoping to lock FCCmod?
After using the FF6_6.6.6_FCC_MENU.apk it will be able to update to 1.6.5 ? and stay to FCCmod?

Close your eyes, pray and Shake the dice situation !!